Fishing line signaling device



May 18, 1954 o. A. VASEK 2,679,036

FISHING LINE SIGNALING DEVICE Filed Nov. 9, 1945 5 Sheets-Sheet l kg) 1 m ,m.

l llufll' m lll H Inventor 43 OZZo A Vasek By @Maarfiu May 18, 1954 o. A. VASEK 2,679,036

FISHING LINE SIGNALING DEVICE Filed Nov. 9, 1345 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor 0Z3 0 A. Vasek WWW M11118, 1954 o. A. VASEK 2,679,036

FISHING LINE SIGNALING DEVICE Filed Nov. 9, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 w /0 ll -|l a,

Inventor Offo A. Vasek B, fiwaaigm.

Patented May 18, 1954 UNITED STATS @ATENT OFFICE FISHING LINE SIGNALING DEVICE Application November 9, 1945, Serial No. 627,615

1 1 Claim.

This invention relates to an improved fishing line signalling device, and has more particular reference to an elec ical device for warning 2. fisherman when the hook of his fishing line has been taken by a fish.

A further object is to provide a device of the above kind embodying means to indicate which one of a plurality of fishing lines has had its hook taken so that the fisherman may promptly attend to the proper line.

Another object is to provide a device of the above kind embodying an audible signal to warn the fisherman when the hook of any one of a plus rality of lines has been taken, and visual signals to respectively indicate the particular line whose hook has been taken.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a device of the above kind which is comparatively simple in construction, easy to place in use, and highly efficient in operation.

The exact nature of the present invention will become apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a front elevational view, partly broken awa of a fishing line signalling device constructed in accordance with the present invention, but with some duplicated parts of the device omitted for sake of simplicity.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the annunciator forming part of the device shown in Figure 1.

fiat casing ha g a removable rear cover plate 6 and provided in its front wall with a plurality of windows 3, S, E), it), it and i2. Lamp sockets ta, ta, ta, its, lie and IM aremountedon the inner face of the front wall ofoasing so as to have their threaded shells grounded to the easing as indicated at a in Figure 5. Lamp lb, lib, 91), till), iii: and 522) are respectively mounted in the sockets lo, 864, 3a, lilo, Ha and lZa so as to be respectively registered with the windows 7, i3, 3, It, I! and I2. The signal lamps may be distinguished from each other by providing them with bulbs of different colors or by numbering the other parts to be presently described.

IiiOill-ltfid on the front wall of casing 51 between said wall and the bell is is a manually operable single throw switch 55 having an operating handle Hi exteriorly oi the casing. Another single throw manual. operable switch S is similarly mounted and provided with an operating handle I5 exteriorly of the casing.

A normally open relay it is mounted on one end wall or" within the casing 5, and the cores of the ma nets of this relay are grounded as indicatat c in Figure 5. 'The magnets of relay H5 include coils 5i and H which are connected in series at and a resilient armature contact 59, attraetable by the magnets or the relay into engagement with the cores thereof, is normally disengaged from said cores. Arranged within and carried by and insulated from the bottom wall of casing 5 are a plurality of binding posts 2%, and the central contacts of the lamp sockets lo, 811, ta, lilo, lie, and We are connected to different ones of these-binding posts by wire iii.

A suitably located battery 22 has its positive terminal connected by a wire to one contact of switch 8, and the negative terminal of the battery is connected by a wire to the coil ll" of relay i6. The coil ll of relay it connected by a Wire 25 to one contact of suit S, the other contact of switch S is connected by a wire 25 to one binding post of the bell it. post of hell it is connected by a wire El to the armature Contact of relay 5%, and the other contact of switch S is grounded to the casing 5 a indicated at b Fl ure 5.

For each fishing line, there is provided a normally open switch 25 including a resilient contact 29 equipped with a weight til flexible by the inertia of its weight to close the circuit of a visual signal or signal lamp in response to jerk on the associated fishing line. Each switch further includes an insulating .lccl: 3i having the ends of a U-shaped contact 552 bolted thereto a at 33. The contact 32 has a c ntral opening 34 through which the flexible resilient contact 29 normally centrally extends so as to be out of engagement with the contact 32. The bolts at 33 constitute binding posts, one being in electrical connection with the contact 32 and being connected by a wire 35 with the input side of switch S. The other The other binding binding post 33 is insulated from the contact 32 as indicated at 95 in Figure 1, and connected by a conductor 37 with the flexible contact 29. The latter binding post is also connected by a wire 38 with one of the binding posts it being noted that the insulated binding post 33 of each switch 328 is connected to a different one of the binding posts 29. Thus, each normally open switch 29 is interposed in the circuit of a different visual signal or signal lamp.

An elastic element or tension spring is attached at one end to one end of the insulating block (it and is adapted to be connected at its other end to a fixed support 50 on the fishing boat. Attached to the other end of the block 3| is the fishing line M. Thus, when a fish takes the hook d2 of the line M and jerks on the line, the spring 39 yields so as to permit a sudden movement of the switch 28 in a direction transverse to the resilient contact and, due to inertia of the weight 30, the contact 29 is flexed into engagement with the Wall of the opening 3? provided in contact thereby closing the circuit of the visual signal or signal lamp which the contact 29 is connected by wires 38 and El. The weight 30 is adjustable longitudinally of the contact 29 so as to obtain most efilcient action of the switch 28 according to the type of fishing being done. The contact 29 is preferably in the form of a slender helical spring having closely related coils or convolutions, and the free or lower end of contact preferably has an enlargement or head it which acts as a stop and prevents passage of the weight Fill oil of said contact 29 so that it may not become accidentally detached and lost.

The arrangement is such that by opening the switch S and closing the switch S, the device may be conditioned for only giving visual signals. For instance, if the switch 93 associated with a given fishing is closed by a jerk on line, the current will flow from the positive side of battery 22 through wire 23 to the input side of switch S, but the current cannot fiow to bell i3 through. wire 26 because switch S is open. The current will thus flow from wire 23 through the wire 35 connected with the closed switch 28, through the wire 38 connected with the latter switch, through the wire 2! connected with the said wire 98, through the lamp to which the said wire 2| is connected, from the ground a of said lamp to the ground d of switch S through wire coils i7 and El and wire 2i; back to the negative side of battery 22. The lamp in the circuit thus traced will be lighted, thereby indicating the particular fishing line whose hook has been struck by the fish. Should the fisherman be occupied with other duties, he may have his attention called to the annunicator whenever the hook of a line is struck by a fish, by simply closing the switch S. When this is done, the current also flows from Wire 23 through wire 25, the magnet coils of bell E3, the wire 27, the armature contact Is to ground C, and then to ground cl through wire 25, coils l7 and H and wire 24 to the negative side of the battery. The circuit of the bell i3 is thus closed so that the bell is rendered operative for giving an audible signal at the same time that the signal lamp is lighted. In this way, when it is not convenient to keep a constant watch on the annunicator, the bell will draw the fishermans attention and warn him to look at the annunicator and determine which line has had its hook taken by a fish.

It is pointed out that the annunicator may be located some distance from the fishing lines where the switches 28 are provided. Thus, the annunicator may be placed inside the cabin or pilot compartment of the boat so that the fisher man may remain under cover in inclement weather except when actually casting a fishing line or pulling in a line after its hook has been struck by a fish. By using a device of this kind, loss of fish will be minimized due to lack of giving the lines prompt attention when the hooks thereof are struck by fish.

From the foregoing description, it is believed that the construction, operation and advantages of the present invention will be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art. The invention is subject to modification and changes in details of construction such as fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What I claim is:

A signalling device for use with a plurality of fishing lines, comprising a casing having a plurality of signal lamps mounted therein, a circuit for each of said lamps including a normally open switch operatively connected to an individual one of said fishing lines, each of said switches being elastically mounted on a support, each normally open switch including a resilient, weighted contact flexible by the inertia of its weight to close the associated visual signal circuit in response to a jerk on the associated fishing line whereby an operator may readily determine which line has been struck by a fish, a common source of current for said visual signal circuits, a relay disposed in said casing having its winding connected serially with the common source circuit to said normall open switches, an audible signal circuit including a manually operable switch and a bell connected in series with the armature contact of said relay.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 657,518 Cook Sept. 11, 1900 893,997 Haas et a1 July 21, 1908 1,055,153 Ferguson Mar. 4, 1913 1,649,534 Lawhon Nov. 15, 1927 1,737,921 Derr Dec. 3, 1929 1,754,360 Hendricks Apr. 15, 1930 1,815,662 Bacon July 21, 1931 2,115,027 Leonard Apr. 26, 1938 2,128,899 Barnhart Sept. 6, 1938 2,198,677 Mueller, Sr Sept. 25, 1945 2,385,707 Johnson Sept. 25, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 1,704 Great Britain of 1900 592,549 Germany Feb. 6, 1931 

